 US presidential candidate Joe Biden is campaigning inside Animal Crossing New Horizons. Well, not Joe personally, but his campaign is doing its best to make use of the popular Nintendo Switch game by encouraging supporters to plaster Biden-Harris posters all over their own islands. This is but the latest in a long line of cases where Animal Crossing has been used for political purposes. Pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong used the game to stage digital protests and it soon became far more difficult to import Hong Kong copies of the game in neighbouring China where it is not officially on sale. Similarly, the animal rights group Peter attempted to get blathers cancelled when they hosted a sit-in at an in-game museum arguing that catching digital fish supports animal cruelty. In both cases, the campaign certainly worked at drawing attention to these causes, whether or not the targets of the protests actually changed their behaviour. Said Biden's director of digital partnerships Christian Tom, Animal Crossing is a dynamic, diverse and powerful platform that brings communities together from across the world. It is an exciting new opportunity for our campaign to engage and connect Biden-Harris supporters as they build and decorate their islands. Traditional political campaigning this year has been difficult. While Biden's rival has shown little interest in social distancing at events, the United States Democratic Party has been trying to avoid physical events as much as possible. The Democratic National Convention was conducted virtually and many of Joe Biden's events, fundraisers and rallies have been conducted over the internet instead of in-person. Of course, Animal Crossing is not a mass multiplayer game, so previous protests have only been visible for limited audiences. Joshua Wong and Peter have relied on social media to carry their messages away from their own Animal Crossing islands so that they reach a wider viewership. With the Democratic Party's new Animal Crossing campaign, things are a little different. The focus is on shareable designs for Biden-Harris posters so that supporters can show their support on many different islands. The campaign has also involved working with popular Animal Crossing streamers, convincing them to display these signs on their own islands as they play. While the idea of a political party securing endorsements from streamers might sound odd now, it's likely to become an increasingly common practice in the future, provided the influencer marketing bubble doesn't burst just yet. This new facet of the Biden campaign comes off the back of US rep Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez arranging meet-and-greets with fans within Animal Crossing. Although her comments suggest that she did this more for relaxation and fun rather than as part of an actual political agenda. Speaking of the game, she said, I set up my island like two days ago. I'm really excited about it, but I also feel like a slacker because I have like ten bells in two days and I just upgraded my tent. But that's okay. It's been quite good actually, for my mental health. With a game as popular as Animal Crossing, it makes sense that so many political figures have embraced the game as a means to connect with allies and supporters. Besides, campaigning in-game is an excellent way to get traditional media coverage without much effort. The primary benefit for campaigns like that of Peter, Hong Kong Democracy and Joe Biden for President is that the mere mention of Animal Crossing generates a huge amount of attention on news outlets of all varieties. Thus, news outlets including The Guardian, CNN, Forbes, Cosmopolitan and even Fox News have covered the Biden campaign's in-game signs. Although, as you might expect, some of these outlets are more critical of the move than others. Regardless of the efficacy of rallying within Animal Crossing, it seems that the Biden campaign has plans to try even more unusual tricks to make digital campaigns mainstream. Said Christian Tom, this is just the start of how we plan to engage voters ahead of November as we're already looking forward to rolling out more digital swag, voter education tools and organising efforts on Animal Crossing and other platforms. So look forward to more democratic activism within Animal Crossing in the near future plus a likely counter-movement from the right wing which will no doubt be... interesting? If you're the kind of person who wants to keep politics out of gaming, this clearly isn't your year.